CANDIDATES FOR HIGH OFFICE

Gubernatorial, At...

A pair of candidates for top statewide office will speak to Livingston County Democrats later this month.

Ann Arbor entrepreneur Shri Thanedar, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, and Dana Nessel, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, both will speak at the party’s Nov. 30 meeting.

Thanedar is a political newcomer who emigrated from India in 1979 and went on to found several companies in an up-and-down business career that survived the Great Recession. Thanedar, who has a doctorate in chemistry, bought a small lab in Missouri that he expanded to 450 employees before the Great Recession sent it into receivership. He moved to Michigan in 2010 and started a chemical-testing company called Avomeen Analytical Services. In 2017, he sold his majority stake in the company and rewarded roughly 50 employees with $1.5 million in bonuses.

While establishing his businesses, he lost his first wife in 1996 and raised his two sons as a single parent. He also is a best-selling author, having written his memoirs, The Blue Suitcase, both in Marathi and in English. He has been a U.S. citizen since 1988.

His honors include having his company named to Inc. magazine’s list of 5000 fastest growing companies in the U.S. and being named Entrepreneur of the Year.

Nessel is an attorney who spearheaded the precedent-setting case, DeBoer v. Snyder, which challenged the bans on adoption and marriage for same-sex couples in Michigan. The DeBoer case was later consolidated with other cases and resulted in a landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

A former assistant prosecutor in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, Nessel handled child sexual and physical abuse cases, shootings of civilians by police officers, and auto theft.

In 2005, she began her own law practice in criminal defense, civil rights actions against police departments and government agencies, and protecting victims of domestic violence. She also has taken on cases for the LGBTQ community including ones dealing with child custody, adoption, and wrongful prosecutions and employment terminations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

A graduate of Wayne State University Law School, Nessel has received numerous awards for her civil rights initiatives, including the “Champion of Justice” award from the Michigan State Bar Association, “Woman of the Year” from Michigan Lawyers Weekly and the “Treasure of Detroit” award from Wayne State University Law School.
The Nov. 30 meeting will be at 7 p.m. at RE/Max Platinum Auditorium, 6870 Grand River, between Brighton and Howell. Attendees should park in the back, use the rear entrance, and take the stairs or elevator down to the auditorium. The business locks the door promptly at 7 p.m.
Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 810-229-4212 or email livcodems@gmail.com.

CANDIDATES FOR HIGH OFFICE

Candidates for Go...

A pair of candidates for high office in Michigan will speak at the next meeting of Livingston County Democrats.

Abdul El-Sayed, candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, and Elissa Slotkin, candidate for the Democratic nomination for 8th District Congress, will speak at the meeting on Thursday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m.

El Sayed, of Detroit is a epidemiologist who is the former health commissioner for the City of Detroit.

He was born in Michigan and grew up in Detroit. He has a medical degree from Columbia University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he earned his doctorate in public health. He was an assistant professor in Columbia University’s Department of Epidemiology when Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan appointed him health commissioner.

Slotkin, of Holly, is a former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense. She went to work in the Central Intelligence Agency after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and served three tours in Iraq. She worked for both Republican and Democratic presidents at the White House National Security Council. She now runs a small consulting business.

She is married and has two step-daughters.

The primary for both the Democratic nomination for governor and for 8th District Congress will be Aug. 7, 2018.

The meeting will be at RE/Max Platinum Auditorium, 6870 Grand River, between Brighton and Howell. Park in the back, use the rear entrance, and take the stairs or elevator down to the auditorium. The business locks its doors at 7 p.m.